The Orchards is a Residential Care Home for adults living with a learning disability

Based in Thorrington, Essex, The Orchards supports up to five men with a learning disability, and can also care for people who have complex needs and behaviours.

The Orchards is a detached property on a quiet residential street, in Thorrington, a small village between Colchester and Clacton, which boasts a pub and a café along with a village shop and post office. Nearby there are plenty of community facilities for people to access, including shops, colleges, a swimming pool and a local park which has a pretty waterside setting. Clacton and Colchester are a short journey away, providing an array of activities for service users to choose from. To see a map of the surrounding community facilities, please click here.

Everyone has their own bedroom, which they are encouraged to personalise and decorate to show their individuality. The Orchards has a large living space and well equipped kitchen-dining area for people to use. The kitchen-diner is the hub of the house where service users are encouraged to help prepare food and drinks for themselves and visitors. Developing self-care and daily living skills is a very important part of life at The Orchards.

Externally there is a large, well-maintained garden, where service users participate in gardening and enjoy growing their own vegetables. The garden has a seating area for relaxing or hosting barbeques. The outside area at The Orchards also boasts an activities centre, where regular music and clay sessions take place.

The Orchards has a dedicated Key Worker who supports service users to have individual activity plans, which are created based on each person’s likes and hobbies. Their goal is to enable people to structure their time, build relationships and establish a balance between therapy, self-care, work and leisure, as appropriate to their individual needs.

People may come to The Orchards for a number of reasons. They may be moving on following a stay at an NHS or other specialist learning disability service, or may need more support than can be offered in a supported living environment. It may also be that they require a little extra support during a difficult period in their life, or they could be on a pathway to a place of their own.

We believe that we must be fully accountable to the people we support, their families and to those who commission services on their behalf. Personal PATHS model of care is our unique way of supporting this.

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